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Banda  
   

Banda

Gunung Api as we leave
#MeToo in Kei

November 23rd 2018
Travelling offers all kinds of interesting experiences, like sleeping in a pod hotel at Jakarta Airport for instance. I have never slept in a pod hotel, and since my flight to Ambon had inexplicably been rescheduled to the morning after my arrival in Jakarta, I decided this was the opportunity to try one out. It was a futuristic looking contraption, a square hole in a long row of square holes, dim ... read more
Asia » Indonesia » Maluku » Kei Islands

Indonesian Flag The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hos... ... read more
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24th November 2018

Banda Island and nutmeg...
So the English discovered and claimed this island and the Dutch claimed the rest of the East Indies. Banda was the only place in the world that had nutmeg; more than worth its weight in gold. So the Dutch wanted this island, by force as necessary. Finally, the two parties arranged a swap. The English gave Banda to the Dutch, and in return the Dutch gave Manhattan Island to the English...and the English took some nutmeg plants to grow elsewhere.
24th November 2018

Almost right
Almost right The Portuguese were there first, then came the Dutch, then the English took one of the Banda Islands, called Run, the Dutch couldn't dislodge them so burnt all the nutmeg plantations on Run, leaving the British with a worthless piece of land, but despite its uselessness they dug in just to pester the Dutch, so a trade was done, Manhatten for Run. Much later during the Napoleonic Wars, when Holland was occupied by the French the British took all the Dutch colonial possessions, they kept most of them, but gave back Indonesia, after stealing the nutmeg from Banda, and thus Banda lost its worth, although Dutch mismanagement had already caused the VOC to go bankrupt despite their monopoly in the spice trade. As for Manhatten, well the English lost it to you guys... So we all lost in the end, but I would say the original inhabitants of Banda and Manhatten the most, as they were either exterminated or died from disease.
24th November 2018

Thanks for the details!!!
My comments were based upon a book I read years ago...obviously I've forgotten some of the history!

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